Leeds fans can thank their lucky stars that they’ve got Pontus Jansson and Kyle Bartley these days.
Depending on who you ask, Giuseppe Bellusci was either a hot-headed fans favourite equally capable of losing his mind or capturing the hearts, or merely an ill-disciplined, error-prone centre-back as far removed from Lucas Radebe as it’s possible to get.
Therefore, fans of Serie A strugglers Empoli would probably have something in common with those regular Elland Road matchgoers. Bellusci has started 15 games this season in a league renowned for its no-nonsense approach to defending, steeped as it is in Catenaccio tradition. And it should be some comfort for Leeds fans to know that Bellusci hasn’t changed one jot.
WhoScored rate the shaven-headed Italian as Empoli’s finest performer across the entirety of the 2016/17 campaign while, with 2.5 per game, he averages the most interceptions in the squad.
They may be 17th with him but they may be a whole lot worse without him too.
Though that’s not to say he’s evolved into a calm, cultured centre-half in the league made great by Paolo Maldini and the Baresi brothers. It will surprise precisely no one of a Whites persuasion to learn that no player in the whole of Serie A has copped more yellow cards than Bellusci this season.
And, in this weekend’s clash with fellow survival scrappers Cagliari, Bellusci did what Bellusci so frequently does. Loses his head. Diving into an utterly pointless challenge inside the penalty box, the 27-year-old gifted his opponents a route back into the game in farcical fashion.
The Empoli ‘keeper guessed right, however, his save providing the platform for a vital 2-0 win.
Leeds, however, weren’t always so fortunate. With Bellusci around, drama is never very far away.
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